CORPIQ opposes bill to allow the expropriation of neglected buildings

CORPIQ asked Municipal Affairs Minister Martin Coiteux to increase rent-fixing criteria before giving municipalities the power to expropriate buildings they find in poor condition, as Bill 122 would do.

During a parliamentary commission (video in French) at the National Assembly on February 21, CORPIQ spent 45 minutes explaining to deputies that increasing cities’ power over rental building owners was incompatible with the preposterous rent-increase rates the Régie du logement allows for maintenance and renovation expenses.

The bill stipulates that municipalities would have the right to submit “deterioration notices” to the Quebec land register (Registre foncier du Québec) for buildings a municipal inspector pronounced neglected. If the owner still has not begun corrective renovations after 60 days, the municipality could expropriate the building. As of 2011, Montréal is the only city that can submit these notices, but it does not have the power to expropriate a building because it is in bad condition. If Bill 122 is adopted, Montréal and other municipalities with building maintenance regulations would gain this extreme power.

Currently, the Quebec government only allows owners to raise the monthly rent by $10 for $5,000 of work, for example. It would take 41 years for the owners to earn back the expense, compared to the 8 years it took in the 1980s. Consequently, CORPIQ accuses the government of being responsible for the significant maintenance deficit of rental properties. Without better incentives to renovate, from upstream, it is impossible to distinguish well-meaning owners from the wayward—a small minority—who have no intention of taking care of their building.

Risk of abuse of power

CORPIQ is also concerned by the abuse of power and nit-picking inspections that may occur in cities if Bill 122 is enacted. Montréal’s experience demonstrates that non-compliance notices are sometimes given by inspectors for elements that have nothing to do with building safety or tenant health. In cases of immediate and serious danger, an evacuation notice should be issued. However, that is not always the case.

There are also concerns about the real motives for submitting a deterioration notice for a building when its location has strategic value for the City.

Watch CORPIQ speak before the Commission de l’aménagement du territoire (in French)

Read article 10 of Bill 122 (in French)